This invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly to an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which front and rear cases are hingedly assembled to house, a detachable filter, with an electrical components mounting board, and a motor.
A conventional indoor unit of an air conditioner system is illustrated in FIG. 8. The indoor unit normally consists of a front case 10 having an intake opening 11 and a discharge opening 13, and a rear case 50 assembled with the front case 10. The rear case 50 contains a heat-exchanger 51 mounted behind the intake opening 11, and a fan 55, driven by a motor 53, located under the heat-exchanger 51.
In this indoor unit, the refrigerant is compressed, by a compressor, to a state of high temperature and pressure and is passed through an outdoor unit (not shown). The condensated refrigerant flows into the heat-exchanger 51 of the indoor unit. With the rotation of the fan 55 the indoor air is drawn into the indoor unit through the opening 11. The air then passes through the heat-exchanger 51, so that the temperature of the air is lowered. The cool air is finally discharged into the area to be cooled through the discharge opening 13.
A controlling apparatus is mounted on the right side portion of the rear case 50 for driving the fan 55 and controlling the level of air volume. In the controlling apparatus, a circuit board having various electronic components is provided. To install the circuit board, as shown in FIG. 12, a compartment 63 must be provided in the side portion of the rear case 50. A control box 65, having the circuit board therein, is put into the compartment 63.
However, since it is necessary to provide the compartment 63 for receiving the control box 65, available space in the rear case 50 is reduced. Further, due to the provision of the compartment, the design of the rear case becomes more complicated and the cost of manufacturing increases.
An electrical components mounting board 67 is provided in the lower portion of the control box 65. The mounting board 67 has a plurality of lamps 69 which display the operating condition, and a switch 71 for selecting the automatic and manual modes. The mounting board 67 is positioned in the control box 65 and subsequently the control box 65, having the mounting board 67, is put into the compartment 63.
That is, two gripping members 77 are formed on the upper left and right edges of the control box 65, respectively. The mounting board 67 is fixed in the control box 65 by the gripping members 77. Further, a couple of shoulders 79 are formed on the upper and the lower upper edges of the control box 65, respectively. The mounting board 67 is positioned on the shoulder 79.
However, due to the large volume of the box 65, a large volume for the rear case 50 is required. Besides, since the box 65 is put into the compartment 63 with the board 67 mounted in the box 65, the assembly becomes complicated. Further, a fastening member is additionally required for preventing the box 65 from moving while in the compartment 63, which involves additional complexity.
For support of respective shafts 57 of the fan motor 53A, a couple of bearing members 59 are provided adjacent both ends of the motor 53. Further, with the shaft 57 being placed on the bearing members 59, brackets 61 are attached to the bearing members 59 by bolts or a similar functional fastening means that will cover the shafts 57.
Since the brackets are shaped as mirror images of each other, a control in the assembling line is required to keep the brackets in proper location, which also increases complicity. Also, since complicated circuit parts and wires are arranged adjacent to the motor mounting place, wires will pass unavoidably over the exposed portion of the motor 53. If the motor becomes over-heated, the synthetic resin coating on the wire might melt. Further, additional components can not be arranged over the motor, and consequently extra space for mounting the components is needed, which increases the difficulty of design.
In addition, the structure of the air intake opening determines the level of air intake noise and heat-exchange efficiency. In the conventional intake opening, as shown FIG. 9, a filter 21 is installed on the inner surface of the front case 10, causing rust to occur.
The air intake opening 11 draws the air through the front portion of the front case 10. Since the front case 10 encompasses the front portion of the heat-exchanger 51, the indoor air is drawn through the front portion of the heat-exchanger, so that the heat-exchange can be accomplished. To increase the heat-exchange efficiency, the rotation speed of the fan must be increased. The higher speed of the fan will cause the local air to be drawn toward the front portion of the heat-exchanger 51.
That is, the active heat-exchange is accomplished in the front portion of the heat-exchanger 51, but in the upper portion air circulation has become poor, which results in bad efficiency of the heat-exchange. Moreover, larger volume of air must be drawn through the intake opening 11, thereby bringing about an increase in intake noise.
Next, a conventional hinge apparatus 30 is shown in FIG. 11 for mounting, the grill member 23 to the front case 10 to facilitate the removal of a rusted filter. The hinge apparatus 30 comprises two brackets 33 each of which has an opening 31, respectively. The brackets 33 are mounted on both upper side inner walls of the front case 10 using screws, etc. The hinge apparatus 30 further comprises two brackets 43 which have an opening 35, respectively. The brackets 43 are mounted on both upper side inner walls of the grill member 21 using screws, etc. A hollow pin 37 is introduced into the aligned openings 31,35 and a bolt 39 is inserted into the pin 37 and is assembled with a nut 47. Around the periphery of the pin 37 is provided a spring 41 which prevents the unwanted dropping or closing of the opened grill member 23.
Because respective brackets 33,43 are attached to the grill member 23 and the front case 10 by screws, etc., the assembly is time consuming. Further, since respective brackets 33,43 are hingedly assembled using the pin 37, the bolt 39 and the nut 47, a large number of parts is required.
Furthermore, adjoining edges of the front case 10 and the rear case 50 are shown in FIG. 10. A platform 15 is formed on the rear upper edge of the front case 10, while an overlapping member 73 is formed on the front upper edge of the rear case 50.
When the front case 10 is assembled to the rear case 50, the overlapping member 73 must be placed on the platform 15. If an external force F is applied to the upper portion of the rear case 50, the platform 15 and over lapping member will deform downwardly together what is worse is if an external force F is applied to the upper portion of the front case 10, only the platform 15 deforms, which brings about the formation of a gap between the platform 15 and the overlapping member 73.